Joelle Rollo Koster: The true Knights Templar

Thursday

Jul 11, 2013 at 10:48 AM

I would like to comment on "A mystery set in stone," July 6, by Richard C. Dujardin, and and rectify some of the statement regarding the Knights Templar. The writer got, I think, a bit carried away by the many novels that have been published regardin

By Commentary staff

I would like to comment on "A mystery set in stone," July 6, by Richard C. Dujardin, and and rectify some of the statement regarding the Knights Templar. The writer got, I think, a bit carried away by the many novels that have been published regarding the Order.

The Templars were created shortly after the success of the first crusade and were not "secretive" as portrayed in storybooks. They also never advertised themselves as protectors of the Holy Grail. The aim that they set in their foundational rules was the protection of pilgrims visiting the Holy Land.

Eventually their knowledge of the terrain and their connections with Muslim society made them the "special forces" of the Levant, superb in warfare but also in protecting merchants and banking convoys. Their demise is linked to the end of the "crusading spirit" and the fall of Acre in 1291.

Their existence rested on the defense of the Christian Levant. Once it was no more they became an easy target for callous rulers in need of cash, in this case the king of France, Philip the Fair. Historians are poring over their records and spending a lot of time setting the record straight, so to speak.

I would refer interested readers to the work of Helen Nicholson, for example, or Malcolm Barber. Sometimes the reality is as interesting as fiction, if not more so.

JoŽlle Rollo KosterKingston

The writer is a professor of medieval history at the University of Rhode Island.